If you are looking to get a legit snow tire here are some of my opinions:
Firestone Winterforce - more aggressive snow tire, grips very well but is fairly noisy on the highway, price is pretty reasonable
Michelin X-Ice - this is a very nice tire, grips very well and is much quieter than the firestone, the tread is not as aggressive as the firestone, pretty expensive
General Altimax Arctic - more comparible to the Michelin, grips very well also, coolest looking out of the 3 imo, probably about as quiet as the michelin, cheapest of the 3 if i remember right.
If i had to rank them it would be:
1st - General
2nd - Michelin
3rd - Firestone
I would recommend going to Tirerack.com and using their comparrison tool as well, it is very good.
Hope this helps